John Frederick Ballard, Theater Scrapbooks
Scope and Contents
This collection consists mostly of scrapbooks containing newspaper articles, programs, and photographs from and about Ballard’s plays. The plays represented are “Believe me, Xantippe,” “Young America,” and “Ladies of the Jury.” There is one small file of biographical materials, one file of correspondence, and one file containing legal descriptions of real estate in Kansas City, Missouri. Also included are photographs of scenes from his plays, which include scenes with actor John Barrymore.
Dates
- 1912-1957
Creator
- Ballard, John Frederick, 1884-1957 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The scrapbooks are open for research.
Biographical / Historical
John Frederick (Fred) Ballard was born in Grafton, Nebraska, in 1884 and moved with his parents to Havelock, Nebraska, in 1891. Ballard enrolled at the University of Nebraska in 1900 and graduated in 1905 with a Bachelor's degree in Literature. He completed a Master's degree in English Literature in 1907. His thesis was entitled "The History and Tendancy of American Drama." After college he moved to Chicago on the advice of playwright Charles Klein to work in theaters and study the theater industry in order to become a playwright. Ballard's experience in Chicago gave him an idea of how successful plays were written, acted, and produced. Shortly thereafter he wrote "Believe me, Xantippe," a play that won Harvard's John Craig Prize, would eventually star actor John Barrymore on Broadway, and become a motion picture. Ballard also earned another Master's degree from Harvard. He continued to write plays and many eventually became movies. Some of his more successful plays were: "Believe me, Xantippe," "Young America," "Ladies of the Jury," "What's Wrong," "We, the People," "A Rainy Day," "Out of Luck," "The Cyclone Lover," and "Dollars and Chickens."
Extent
1.9 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
- Ballard, John Frederick, 1884-1957
- Boston (Mass.) Subject Source: Library Of Congress Name Authority File
- Broadway (New York, N.Y.) Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Chicago (Ill.) Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Dramatists Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Motion pictures Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- New York (N.Y.) Subject Source: Unspecified ingested source
- Photographs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Theater Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Peterson Brink
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Repository
Archives & Special Collections
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
P.O. Box 884100
Lincoln NE 68588-4100 United States
402-472-2531
archives@unl.edu
